Charging the iPod

[Esquilinho]

I'm thinking about buying a new iPod video, but a questionnow came to my mind:
As far as I know (I think I saw it on the Apple site), the iPod is charged via USB.
Is this the only way? Because if it is, it's pretty stupid! This means I can't charge my iPod if I don't have a computer around!

One of the uses I was thinking about was to load the iPod with some movies when I go away on holiday. But I don't have a computer in the house where I'm staying! So basically, I would only be able to see one movie before the battery ran out! Great!

[texanpenguin]

There is a Power Adapter available from Apple for charging the iPod, or, for significantly less money (but a much less elegant solution) is to get a powered USB hub and plug the iPod into it.

[Lt Major Burns]

no, it sounds as though all you need is the power adaptor. a standard apple power-brick with a usb slot in it.

[Thank The Cheese]

Is there a way to stop the iPod from charging when you plug it in to the USB drive? Just that, while convenient, I don't really want my iPod's battery to be "topped up" every time I plug it in to update the songs.

AFAIK the best way to get the longest life out of a battery is to let it drain to 0%, then charge it back to 100%, rather than using it until 50%, then topping it up a bit, then using it a bit more, and so on.

[Lt Major Burns]

not so on ipods, and anything that uses Li-On batteries. top-up charging is the most efficient way to charge Li-On.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Yep -- gotta agree with Major Burns here -- letting the battery on the iPod drop to 0% then fully-charging it will shorted the battery life considerably.

Your best bet is to keep the battery topped off all the time, and let it drain all the way to 0% only once every month or so. Letting it drain to 0% every time you use it without topping it off in-between will shorten the battery life and is not the way Lithium-Ion batteries are meant to be used.

[JetwingX]

A few links to back this all up
http://www.apple.com/batteries/
http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipods.html

And the Power adapter is $29 in the US and €29 in Spain (no portugal store to my knowledge)

[Thank The Cheese]

aah that's good to know. I've been misinformed. Everyone seems to have their own theory when it comes to batteries, I guess a lot of opinions are left over from pre-lithium-ion days when batteries were harder to take care of.

thanks guys, that's a relief